KLM's Launches Historic 1st Airbus A350 Flight Today: See Route Now:

Published Oct 30, 2026, 2:17 AM EDT Journalist – Aaron is an aviation and travel journalist with 14 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry. His background spans airport operations, aviation infrastructure, and travel consulting, having worked with global organizations across New Zealand, Europe, and North America. Combining industry expertise with firsthand travel experience across more than 52 countries and five continents, Aaron covers airlines, airports, aviation policy, and the wider travel sector. He is based in Canterbury, New Zealand. His work has been published in Simple Flying and featured by MSN, SAM CHUI Aviation & Travel, EIN News, Pakistan Defence, and Climate Depot. Dutch flag carrier KLM commences its first long-haul Airbus A350-900 service today. KLM will operate the state-of-the-art aircraft to Canada's largest and busiest airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). The airline will initially operate the route with this aircraft up to five times weekly, before moving the rotation to a daily service next March. Toronto is the first of many new A350 destinations for the SkyTeam partner, with plans from the airline to serve Montreal and multiple destinations in Africa. KLM's First Airbus A350 Destination: Toronto Credit: minhanphotos | Shutterstock Toronto is the largest city in Canada, and its metropolitan population surpasses six million. As such, Toronto Pearson caters to a large number of passengers, and it serves the greater Southern Ontario region. The airport is one of just a handful with operations to all six inhabited continents, and welcomes a large number of European operators. KLM has operated flights from Amsterdam to Toronto for more than half a century, with this year marking 52 years of service to the city, and more than 75 years to Canada. The airline first commenced services on April 29, 1974. Today, however, marks the latest chapter in the airline's history with Toronto, with the Ontario capital playing host to the airline's first Airbus A350-900 flight. Loading map… Drag to explore KL691 is scheduled to depart from Amsterdam today just after lunch, for the over eight-hour journey across the North Atlantic, for a late afternoon arrival into Toronto. Return service KL692 will depart just before 7:00 PM, and operate overnight for an early morning arrival back to Europe. Full schedule details below as per the carrier's website: Flight Number Dep. Airport Dep. Time Arr. Airport Arr. Time Aircraft KL691 Amsterdam (AMS) 1:30 PM Toronto (YYZ) 4:40 PM Airbus A350-900 KL692 Toronto (YYZ) 6:55 PM Amsterdam (AMS) 7:05 AM Airbus A350-900 KLM's Next Airbus A350 Destinations Take Flight Soon Credit: minhanphotos | Shutterstock KLM has a total of 22 Airbus A350-900s that are set to be delivered to the airline over the next few years, with its first A350-900 only being delivered on October 2. The aircraft carries the nickname De Nachtwacht / The Night Watch, and has otherwise been used for crew training and testing up until today, during which time it has made multiple round-trip flights to the Norwegian city of Stavanger. While the A350-900 will head for Toronto as part of its first revenue flight, it will be followed by a number of additional destinations as more aircraft are delivered and the aircraft type is cemented into the carrier's fleet. The next destination will be the second largest city in Canada, where it will operate three times a week to Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL). Africa is next on the airline's radar, with the carrier adding a triangle service from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro (JRO) and Dar Es Salaam (DAR). The Kenyan capital of Nairobi (NBO) will follow on January 5. Full details of the upcoming deployment of this aircraft are in the table below, as confirmed by Aeroroutes: From To A350-900 Start Date Amsterdam (AMS) Toronto (YYZ) October 30, 2026 Amsterdam (AMS) Montreal (YUL) December 14, 2026 Amsterdam (AMS) Kilimanjaro (JRO) and Dar es Salaam (DAR) December 15, 2026 Amsterdam (AMS) Dar es Salaam (DAR) and Kilimanjaro (JRO) December 20, 2026 Amsterdam (AMS) Nairobi (NBO) January 5, 2027 PH-ZNA: KLM's Shiny New Airbus A350-900 Credit: minhanphotos | Shutterstock KLM's newest aircraft was fabricated by European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and took its first test flight under French registration F-WZMM on September 4, 2026, according to ch-aviation. The aircraft was then delivered on October 2 and registered in the Netherlands under PH-ZNA. The jet is configured with a total of 331 seats, across three classes including 34 World Business, 26 Premium Comfort, and 271 Economy. It is equipped with the latest in-flight tech, including 4K Panasonic Astrova screens, high-speed Wi-Fi via Viasat, and built-in Bluetooth audio. These A350s are set to replace KLM's aging Boeing 777-200ER, as well as the remaining A330-200 and A330-300, as part of a widebody fleet renewal program.